<p>I'm looking to major in Computer Science. Next month I'll be flying into the bay area to tour De Anza, Diablo Valley College, and Ohlone College. My #1 goal is to transfer to Berkeley's B.A. in CS, but my fallback is UCSC. I'm assuming to get into UCB I'll be needing to shoot for a 3.8+ GPA (though I've heard of people getting in as low as 3.2?) - Do all of these schools have a TAP agreement with UCB?</p>
<p>Next, between these the three CC's I mentioned, I was wondering which had the best CS department to prepare myself? Also, I've been hearing that community colleges in California are struggling with funds and that overcrowded schools may mean you'll have a hard time signing up for classes (for some reason I've heard this specifically with De Anza). Are all of these schools the same in that regard or does one have easier class registration over another?</p>
<p>One last thing, how do the NorCal universities rank in CS? I'm assuming UCB and Stanford are at the top, then maybe UC Davis and then UCSC?</p>
<p>NorCal student here. Many of the colleges are the same in registration. There are other ways to get priority registration such as EOPS (program for “disadvantaged students”). With regards to your 3.8+ GPA statement, there have been 4.0 students who were also rejected to UCB in CS.</p>
<p>add to your list: Foothill College in Los Altos.
i took several online courses there.
in my opinion, UCD’s CS program is much stronger than UCSC.
in terms of CS, UCB>UCLA>UCSD>UCD (not sure about the rest)</p>
<p>Hi, I’m an EECS transfer at Berkeley. In terms of where to go, check assist.org and see which one has the most pre-reqs. The more classes you have going in, the better your chances and the less catching up you’ll have to do. You can’t really find CS70 anywhere, but 61A-C can help you. Also, this is probably less relevant for L&S CS, but Foothill and De Anza are both on quarters, so anything in a series (Physics, English, CS) requires extra classes and will take longer than if you did them at a semester school. If you need IGETC though, that could work out in your favor.</p>
<p>And no, you don’t need a 3.8+ to get in, I think I was a little bit below that. Pre-reqs are super important, the more you can do the better. Also, make sure you show interest in CS, have good ECs and essays, etc.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know much about TAP, but I figured I would warn you that TAG at UCSC is a HUGE pain, so if you have other schools in mind it’s probably better (for your sanity) to TAG there.</p>
<p>How is it a pain? I’m not going to lie, I first looked into Davis and UCSC, but then I thought I would be selling myself short if I didn’t try my absolute best in CC and shoot for Cal.</p>
<p>Oh, and one more thing (I can’t find an edit button for my previous post?):</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that I’ll be needing calculus 1-3, linear algebra, and discrete math. That’s 5 semesters of math. Should I try to jam two of these courses in one semester or take one over the summer? I’m pretty scared that one of these classes will be filled at some point when I’m trying to sign up too, and this many math classes doesn’t really give me much wiggle room to transfer in 2 years.</p>
<p>For Berkeley specifically, a combination of Laney and Diablo Valley provides the best coverage for lower division CS, so that you need to take fewer “catch up” courses after transfer:</p>
<p>CS 61A: Laney
CS 61B: Laney, Diablo Valley, Ohlone (De Anza has partial)
CS 61C: Diablo Valley
CS 70: none
EE 42 (for L&S CS; EECS needs EE 40): Laney
EE 40 (for EECS; L&S CS may be able to use instead of EE 42): Ohlone
EE 20N (for EECS): none</p>
<p>Commonly, CS majors at community college or four year colleges double up on math one semester, taking discrete math alongside another math course.</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://www.assist.org%5B/url%5D”>http://www.assist.org</a> to see what community colleges have the best coverage of courses needed for your transfer target campuses and majors.</p>
Cal is an amazing place to be. UCSC, generally speaking, will accept your TAG, and then tell you a day later that you can’t go into your major (CS), and to try again during regular admissions. It’s a little bit frustrating (and worrisome) to be told no by your safety school that early in the admissions process. Basically unless you’ve got a great GPA and all the pre-reqs finished (not planned, finished) by the time you apply, Baskin’s won’t accept your TAG. You’ll have no problems during normal admissions, of course, seeing as you’re shooting for UCB. You can TAG SC if you want to, obviously, but if you were considering TAG elsewhere as a safety or something it’ll probably be a little less annoying.</p>
<p>Also, doubling up on math is fine. I had multivariate calc, linear algebra, and discrete all in the same semester, the material from one doesn’t really build on that of the others.</p>
UCSC, generally speaking, will accept your TAG, and then tell you a day later that you can’t go into your major (CS), and to try again during regular admissions. It’s a little bit frustrating (and worrisome) to be told no by your safety school that early in the admissions process. Basically unless you’ve got a great GPA and all the pre-reqs finished (not planned, finished) by the time you apply, Baskin’s won’t accept your TAG. You’ll have no problems during normal admissions, of course, seeing as you’re shooting for UCB. You can TAG SC if you want to, obviously, but if you were considering TAG elsewhere as a safety or something it’ll probably be a little less annoying.</p>